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Glitz and Glamour

“We are considering a break,” announced Shankar, the super star hero of the country.

While he was walking out, his secretary asked, “Did you mean to say break-up?”

Shankar realized his mistake. He said, “Gosh! This hangover. Let me go back and tell them that I plan to break up with Nandini.”

His secretary, Sharma, said, “I’d suggest to leave it. Let them make their own interpretations. It’ll give them more reasons to keep your name in the celebrity highlights. These media people are more intrigued when they get such vague messages. They try to use their investigative abilities to find out the truth. I’ll deal with it when it comes to me.”

As Sharma expected, media houses were divided into two when it comes to broadcasting the intended meaning of Shankar’s announcement.

Half of the news channels and websites said that Shankar and Nandini were going on a break to a remote island and want to spend some lonely time together. The other news channels displayed news saying that Shankar was planning to break up with Nandini.

Meanwhile, Hariharan, the producer of Shankar’s upcoming release was extremely worried about the film. They had to make many changes to the script during shooting because of Shankar’s insistence. But, the numerous changes made the film too weak and the rushes were not so positive. So, Hariharan wanted to do something to make that film successful. He has invested all his time and energy in that movie. If the movie flops, he will have to declare bankruptcy and it might take at least seven to ten years for him to regain normalcy. He did not want to go through those tough times again.

Hariharan called up, Srujan, the PR manager of Shankar. Hariharan said, “We have a problem. The film might bomb at the box office. I know it is as important to Shankar as it is to me. So, do you have any idea to improve things? I mean, can we do something with excessive promotion or something like that. The last time, you came up with a wonderful idea of a social media controversy that helped our film. We need something stronger now.”

Srujan said, “I get it. You called me up at the right time. Before we talk about any ideas, tell me one thing. Didn’t the distributors lap up the film already? You should have made your profits. Didn’t you?”

Hariharan said, “That’s the problem. They saw the rushes and were not so convinced. Most of them asked for some more time. Their reactions did not seem to be so positive. I’m worried I’ll have to release it on my own and incur losses. It’s really tough for me.”

Srujan said, “Don’t worry. Shankar has already solved our problem.”

Hariharan, in an agitated tone, said, “What do you mean by that? He was the one who wanted to change the story line so many times. Now, it does not reflect the interesting and gripping narration that we discussed initially. There are far too many irrelevant and commercial elements in it.”

Srujan said, “I’m not talking about the movie. Shankar made a funny half-baked announcement this morning while he was inaugurating a mall. That is going to solve all our problems.”

Hariharan asked, “What did he say? How is his announcement going to help with the movie? Tell me, please.”

Srujan was an expert in dealing with crises situations like this. He knew how to cash upon various events and the best out of any situation.

He said, “Listen carefully. Shankar made an announcement that he is considering a break. Actually, he wanted to announce that he is planning to break up with Nandini. But, his announcement was not clear about that. Now, half of the media is broadcasting news saying that Shankar and Nandini are taking a holiday break. The other half of the media is saying that they both are breaking up.

I have contacted my representatives within these both groups of media houses and gathered the data and statistics for the last few hours. The TRPs of the channels that talked about Shankar and Nandini taking a break have increased to a great extent. This means that more people want Shankar and Nandini to party and take their relationship forward. The TRPs of channels that considered breakup have come down. In fact, people on social media channels are fighting to keep them together.

So, if we can make Shankar and Nandini go on a holiday, it is going to help your movie to a great extent. While they are on their holiday, we can spread rumors about their impending marriage plans. So, by the time the movie gets released, there will be a lot of buzz around both of them and they both are in your film. The distributors should be more than happy to buy the film immediately at any cost you quote. And, the first few weeks should be profitable enough for the distributors as well. It might not be a record-breaking blockbuster movie. But, it will help everyone make some profits. So, now you know what to do, right?”

Hariharan felt glad he got in touch with the right person. He said, “I’ll send tickets to you for both of them. But, I wonder if Nandini would be ready to travel with him and pose love with him in front of the shutterbugs. Will you talk to her?”

Srujan said, “I already have a plan for that. I’ll talk to both of them. You don’t worry.”

Hariharan booked the tickets to a holiday beach destination for Shankar and Nandini.

Srujan called up Nandini and shared the details of the statistics with her. After that, he said, “The film did not get positive feedback initially. So, you have to do something about your career. Your last three films were flops. Shankar has been your lucky mascot. You did not have an flops with him. If this film fails, they will blame you and not Shankar as he is already riding high. So, all you need to do is act. I’m sorry for being blunt. But, as your PR manager, it is my responsibility.”

Nandini immediately called up Shankar and said, “What are you trying to do? Is this a different approach to win me over. First, you cheat on me. Then, you take the help of our PR manager and blackmail me to go on a trip with you.”

Shankar was taken aback at her words. He said, “Hold on. I don’t get it. First, I announced that I’m planning to break with you. Why would I want to go with you? Second, I never cheated on you. If you have the guts to talk about it, tell me. Don’t come to conclusions depending on some rumors.”

Nandini got extremely angry. She said, “I saw the pic. Let me send it to you. You are in a compromising position with that new girl, Latika. I can’t take it anymore. Look at the picture I’m sending and call me back.”

Nandini knew that he was bluffing and she caught him red handed this time.

After a few minutes, Shankar called her. She thought he would apologize. Instead, she heard him laughing on the call.

Shankar said, “Can you carefully look at my dress in that pic? It’s the night of the awards that I wore the dress. If you remember, I fell unconscious immediately after the awards ceremony. I never wore that dress again because I spoiled it that night. You can check with Sharma if you want. And, Latika would have fulfilled one of her fantasies by posing with me when I was unconscious. Can’t you see that my eyes are closed? What’s wrong with you? Why don’t you trust me at all? I did not know you were fighting with me for over this the whole week. I like the fact that you are possessive about me. But, I don’t like it when you don’t trust me. Please talk to me when you come across something like this. And, tell me one thing. Where did you get the pic from?”

Nandini said, “I’ll get back to you in a few minutes.”

Nandini called up Sharma and a couple of other people to validate about Shankar’s dress. Even if Sharma was lying, her friend, a journalist would not lie because she has this passion to track every moment of Shankar. She would definitely know about this dress. Fortunately, Shankar was right according to everyone.

Nandini called up Shankar and said, “I’m sorry it was my mistake. Latika sent it to me. I can’t blame her too. When I asked her, she said that you were unconscious and she sent it to me for fun so that I could laugh and poke fun of you. I got it all wrong. I’m sorry I troubled you the whole week for this.”

Shankar said, “Now, can we go on that trip. Hariharan has already sent the tickets to Srujan. I really want to spend a couple of alone time with you.”

Nandini agreed. Shankar and Nandini went on their trip.

The positive buzz that Shankar and Nandini really worked in favor of the movie.

Distributors started calling Hariharan and bought the movie. Hariharan made considerable profits.

The movie got released. Unfortunately for Hariharan, the movie turned out to be a blockbuster. The changes that Shankar suggested worked in favor of the movie unlike industry people anticipated. Hariharan felt bad that he did not distribute the movie on his own.

Meanwhile, Shankar and Nandini got married after six months and they thanked Hariharan for reuniting them.